Hinge mounting means

ABSTRACT

Means for mounting a hinge leaf on a container component, for example, the base or lid section of a box. The means includes a hinge receiving element, one end or section of which is adapted for direct attachment to the hinge. The other end or section of the hinge receiving element includes a tongue member which cooperates with the said other end or section to slidably receive and hold therebetween a mounting member which is included as a part of the container component.

United States Patent [191 Bergh et a1.

[ Jan. 1,1974

[ HINGE MOUNTING MEANS [75] Inventors: George G. Bergh, Plainsville; Robert G. Bergh, North Attleboro, both of Mass.

[73] Assignee: Bergh Bros, Co., Inc., Attleboro Falls, Mass.

22 Filed: Mar. 18, 1971 21 App1.No.: 125,760

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No 25,662, April 6,

1970, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl. 220/31 R, 220/32, 229/44 M [51] Int. Cl B65d 43/18, 865d 5/66 [58] Field of Search 220/31 R, 31 S, 32,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,626,301 4/1927 Rhodes 220/35 3,355,088 11/1967 Young 220/31 R 2,605,925 8/1952 Morin 2,804,229 8/1957 Bergh 220/31 R Primary Examiner-George E. Lowrance Attorney chittick, Pfund, Birch, Samuels & Gauthier [57] ABSTRACT Means for mounting a hinge leaf on a container component, for example, the base or lid section of a box. The means 1116111655 h ing er eceiving element, one end or section of which is adapted for direct attachment to the hinge. The other end or section of the hinge receiving element includes a tongue member which cooperates with the said other end or section to slidably receive and hold therebetween a mounting member which is included as a part of the container component.

7 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAR 11914 3.782.592

SHEI 2 BF 5 l.\'\ 'EXIORS GEORGEG. BERGH ROBERT c. BERGH ATTORNEYS PATENTEDJAH W 1 3.782.592

sum 3 Bi 5 Fig. 5.

INYEYVORS GEORGE G. BERGH ROBERT G. BERGH ATTORNEYS PATENIEDJAN- H914 3.782.592

' sumuors w" k H Hm g g INVENTORS I GEORGE e. BERGH ROBERT e. BERGH ATTORNEYS HINGE MOUNTING MEANS This application is a continuation in part of US. Pat.

application Ser. No. 25,662, filed Apr. 6, 1970, now' abandoned.

This invention relates generally to containers, frames and the like having components pivotally joined together by hinges, and more particularly to an improved means for securing the hinges to each of the container components. The invention is particularly useful where hinges are employed to join the base and lid sections of boxes, although it willbe appreciated from the following detailed description that other uses are also contemplated. I

The conventional practice which has heretofore been widely employed when securing hinges to container components has been to attach each hinge leaf directly to one of the component walls. A number of problems and disadvantages are, however, characteristic of this type of construction. For example, where the mode of attachment involves puncturing or otherwise deforming the component wall, the exterior appearance of the wall is unavoidably adversely affected. This is particularly true where the hinge leaf is provided with ears or prongs which puncture the wall and are thereafter bent over to provide a means of mechanical engagement (this mode of attachment being frequently referred to as rosetting").

The rosetting technique hasb een found to be only temporarily effective when securing a metal hinge leaf to a component wall made up of a cardboard or paper.

Experience has indicated that after relatively limited use of the hinge assembly, the hinge leaves tend to loosen and pull away from the walls. Efforts to minimize this disadvantage have included the use of thicker walls, a factor which in turn increases the overall weight and cost of the container without significant increasing the useful life of the hinge assembly.

Where the hinge leaf is either attached directly to or in any event supported entirely by a component wall, the stresses created by opening and closing the hinge produce unsightly bending and buckling of the wall each time the container is opened and closed. This problem becomes particularly acute when the hinge leaves are spring-loaded to snap to the open and shut positions.

Another problem with the rosetting technique is that it requires a machine operation during assembly. This further complicates and increases the overall cost of assembling the container.

It is accordingly a general object of the present invention to avoid the above-mentioned problems and disadvantages by employing a novel and inventive means for attaching a hinge assembly to a container component.

A more particular object of the present invention is to attach each hinge leaf to a hinge receiving element which is in turn fixed in relation to one of the interior surfaces of the container component. In certain of the embodiments which will hereinafter be described in detailand which are encompassed by the present invention, the hinge receiving element is attached to a mounting surface which is in turn secured, as for example, by glue or through a wedging action, in face to face contact with a second surface which is located within the confines of and fixed relative to the wall member of the component. However, as described in connection with another embodiment, in certain cases it may be desirable to attach the hinge receiving element directly to a component wall. v

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved means for withstanding the stresses developed during opening and closing of the hinge assembly, without producing unsightly bending and distortion of the component wall.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a means for attaching a hinge leaf to 'a container component which does not require a machine operation during assembly, and which does not produce a puncturing or marring of the finished exterior surface of the container component.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a means for attaching a hinge assembly to a container component, which means is capable of undergoing extended use without loosening.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds with the aid of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a container embodying the concepts of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the container shown in FIG. 1 with elements of the lid component shown in a disassembled exploded condition and with other elements of the base component partially cut away;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective partially exploded rear view of an alternate embodiment of, the invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional .view similar to FIG. 4 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 7; and,

FIG. 9 is a perspective partially exploded view of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

. Referring now to FIGS. 1-4, there is shown a box-like container 10 having base and lid components 12 and 14 pivotally joined by a hinge assembly generally indicated at 16. The base and lid components are each provided with walls 20 extending vertically from planar second surfaces 18. The planar surface 18 of base 12 serves as the container bottom, and likewise the planar surface 18 of the lid section l4 serves as the container top. The hinge assembly 16 includes a pair of hinge leaves 22a and 22b pivotally joined as at 24, with a spring member 26 being provided to snap the hinge leavesbetween opened and closed positions.

Each of the leaves 22a and 22b of the hinge assembly 16 is attached to a hinge receiving element generally indicated at 28, the latter having angularly disposed ends or sections 30 and 32. In the embodiments herein disclosed, the hinge leaves are secured to one end or section 30 of each hinge receiving element 28 by the cooperative engagement of forwardly and laterally disposed ears 34 on the hinge leaves and oppositely dis posed flanges 36 and detents 38 on the element side 30. It will be understood, however, that other means such as for example rivets, screws, spot welding, etc., may be employed to attach the hinge leaves to the hinge receiving elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Tongues 40 are provided at the other ends or sections 32 of each of the hinge receiving elements 28. In the embodiment herein shown, the tongues 40 are stamped out of the sections 32, thus forming similarly dimensioned cutouts or spaces immediately therebeneath. As is best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each tongue 40 resides in a plane spaced laterally from and generally parallel to the plane of the section 32.

The spaces between the tongues 40 and the sections 32 are suitably dimensioned to slidably receive and holdmounting members 44. The mounting members 44 are notched as at 46 to permit edges 48 to seat against the inside corners 50 of each hinge receiving element 28.

Each mounting member 44 is suitably dimensioned to accommodate its insertion into and inclusion as part of one of the container components 12 and I4. Different means may be relied upon to hold the mounting members 44 in place in the container components. For example, the peripheral edges of the mounting members may be wedged between the component walls 20 as at 52 (See FIGS. 3 and 4). This arrangement is particularly advantageous in that it results in the angular hinge receiving elements 28 being securely held against the rear component walls. Alternatively, or in addition to the aforementioned wedging technique, the mounting members 44 may be glued to the planar surfaces 18.

At this point, it should be noted that in the interest of clarity, certain dimensions have been exaggerated in the drawings. This is particularly true of the thickness of and lateral spacings between adjacent elements. Thus it will be understood that in practice, due to the inherent flexibility of the elements 44 and the relatively thin metal gauge of the mounting members 28, certain areas of the planar elements 44 usually will be in faceto-face contact with planar surfaces 18.

It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the embodiment described above without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, for example, while it is generally convenient to stamp the tongues 40 out of the hinge receiving element sections 32, alternatively, the tongues might be stamped out of the other'sections 30 and then bent over into parallel spaced relationship with sections 32. Also, the edges of sections 32 might be bent over to form oppositely disposed parallel tongues. Moreover, any number of hinge assemblies may be employed when pivotally joining the container components, and the hinge assemblies may be spaced and arranged as desired along the rear walls of each component.

Another container construction embodying the concepts of the present invention is shown in FIGS. and 6. Here again, the hinge assembly 16 may be comprised of two hinge leaves 22a and 22b pivotally joined as at 24. The hinge leaves are each adapted to be attached to the sections 30 of hinge receiving elements 28, with the attachment being accomplished by known means, for example by the cooperative engagement of ears 34 on the hinge leaves and flanges 36 and detents 38 on the element sides 30. The other angularly extending sections 32 of the hinge receiving elements are again provided with tongues 40.

This alternate container construction differs from that shown in FIGS. 1-4 in that the rear sides a of the container walls 20 are cut away as at 56 and the planar surfaces 18 of the components are also cut away as at 58. These cut away sections are suitably dimensioned to accommodate insertion of the hinge receiving elements 28 to operative positions as is best shown in FIG. I

6. When thus positioned, the planar surfaces 18 of each of the components are held between the element sides 32 and their associated tongue members 40. The innermost edges 60 of the cut away sections 58 bear against the tongue members 40 as at 62 (See FIG. 6) while the outside corners 64 formed between the component walls 20 and their integral planar surfaces 18 bear against the inside corners 50 of the hinge receiving elements as at 66.

With the hinge receiving elements thus positioned in relation to each container component, a wrapping 68 is next applied to hold the assembled components together and to provide an attractive finished surface. This alternate construction obviates the necessity of employing a separate mounting member, such as for example the member 44 shown in FIGS. 1-4, as part of each container component. The sides or sections 30 of the hinge receiving elements 28 are located exteriorly of the rear container walls 20a, thus positioning the hinge pintle 24 considerably outside of the plane of the exterior back wall surfaces. This arrangement is particularly desirable when employing thicker wall components because greater clearance is afforded between adjacent edges of the rear walls when the container components are opened and with less gap between the components when they are closed.

Still another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 7-9. In this embodiment, a container 70 is again shown comprising base and lid components 72 and 74. The base and lid components are pivotally connected by a hinge assembly 76 which again includes leaves 78 pivotally joined at 80, with a spring 82 to provide a snap action between the open and closed positions. The base and lid components 72 and 74 each include planar second surfaces 84 with relatively high side walls 86 extending vertically therefrom.

The hinge leaves 78 are again each suitably adapted for attachment to hinge receiving elements 88 which in this case are relatively flat except for the integral tongues 90. With reference to FIG. 9, it will be seen that each hingeleaf is attached to one end or section 880 ofa hinge receiving element 88, and the tongue 90 is located at the other end or section 88b of the receiving element.

Each hinge receiving element 88 is adapted for attachment to a multi-sided mounting member generally indicated in FIG. 9 at 92. As herein depicted, the mounting member 92 includes a planar surface 92a and a plurality of side flaps 92b, 92c, 92d and 92e, the latter flap 92e being slotted at 94 and cut away at 96 to accept the hinge receiving element 88. As may be best seen by a combined reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, the hinge receiving elements 88 are attached to the mounting members 92 by slidably inserting the tongue members 90 of the former through the slots 94 in the rear flaps 92e of the latter. When thus arranged, the cut-out sections 96 in flaps 92e expose the hinge assembly 76.

Each mounting member 92 is suitably dimensioned and adapted for insertion into and for inclusion as part of either the base or lid components 72 and 74.

The major advantages provided by the present invention will now be better understood by those skilled in the art. Among these advantages is the absence of unsightly exteriorly visible holes, slots, bent ears, etc., which might otherwise mar or detract from the overall appearance of the container. More particularly, in the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 1-4, the hinge receiving elements 28 and the hinge leaves 22a and 22b are fully enclosed by the exterior surfaces 18 and 20 of the base and lid sections 12 and 14. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the hinge receiving elements 28 are completely covered by the exterior wrapping 68. Likewise, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7-9, the hinge receiving elements 88, hinge assembly 76 and insert members 92 are again fully enclosed by the exterior surfaces 84 and 86 of the base and lid components 72 and 74. Increased strength is also an important advantage. The hinge receiving elements 28 and 88 are preferably fabricated of a metal which is relatively inflexible and capable of withstanding bending and distortion when the hinge assemblies attached thereto are opened and closed. The means employed to secure the hinge receiving elements in place also contribute to the overall strength and rigidity of the resulting combination. For example, in the construction shown in FIGS. 1-4, it will be noted that opening and closing hinge stresses are transferred from the element sides 30 through sides 32 and the cooperating tongues 40 to the mounting members 44, the latter being securely wedged and/or glued in place. Thus, any tendency for the rear cmponent walls to flex or bend each time the container is opened and closed is avoided. Essentially the same result is achieved in the construction shown in FIGS. and 6 by inserting the planar surfaces 18 between the tongues 40 and the adjacent sides of the mounting elements. In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 7-9, the exterior walls 86 of the base and lid components are again isolated from opening and closing stresses by attaching the relatively flat hinge receiving elements 88 to the flaps 92e of the mounting members 92. Another possible alternative might be to provide receiving slots and cutouts in the rear walls of the base and lid sections and to then attach the hinge receiving elements 88 directly thereto, thereafter covering the exterior surfaces of the container components as with the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5-6. In this latter event, the rear walls would not be completely isolated from opening and closing stresses, but they would be strengthened substantially by the hinge receiving elements 88.

Finally, it should be noted that the elements 30 and- /or $8 may be employed without hinges as reinforcing elements. For example, where the elements are angular, as depicted at 30 in FIGS. 1-6, their reinforcing function when applied to a container component would be to strengthen an adjacent wall against bowing and also to maintain the wall at a desired angle, say 90, with respect to the bottom (or lid, as the case may be). When the elements are non-angular, as for example as shown at 88 in FIGS. 7-9, their reinforcing function would be primarily directed against bowing of the adjacent wall. In other words, the elements 30 and/or 88 need not necessarily be employed with hinges to impart important strengthening characteristics to component surfaces. The invention further obviates the need for a machine operation during assembly, it being possible to hand-assemble all elements Jigs and fixtures may also be done away with because the hinge receiving elements 28 and/or 88 serve as locating means which insure accurate alignment with thevarious cooperating elements both during and after assembly.

In light of the foregoing, it will now be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to use with box-like containers, but in fact may be employed in a wide variety of applications, wherever two cooperative components are to be hinged together. Likewise, it will be understood that other changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments herein disclosed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. Means for mounting a hinge on a container component comprising: a planar mounting member forming an integral part of said container component, and a hinge receiving element having a tongue member spaced laterally from one section thereof and having another section thereof adapted to receive the hinge in direct attachment thereto, said mounting member being cut away to permit slidable insertion of said mounting member into a retained position between the said one section and the said tongue member of said hinge receiving element.

2. The means as claimed in claim 1 further characterized by the said one section of said hinge receiving element being disposed at an angle relative to the said other section of said hinge receiving element.

3. The means as claimed in claim 2 wherein said container component includes a planar surface with wall members extending vertically from the edges thereof, and wherein said planar mounting member is suitably dimensioned to be received within the confines of said wall members and against said planar surface.

4. The means as claimed in claim 3 wherein said planar mounting means is retained against said planar surface by the cooperative frictional engagement of said wall members with the edges of said planar mounting member.

5. The means as claimed in claim 2 wherein said planar mounting member is provided with wall members extending vertically from the edges thereof, the wall member adjacent to the cut away portion of said mounting member also being cut away to accommodate slidable insertion of said mounting member between the said one section and the said tongue member of said hinge receiving element.

6. The means as claimed in claim 5 further characterized by a wrapping material applied to the exterior surfaces of said mounting member, said wall members and said hinge receiving element.

7. The means as claimed in claim ll wherein said container component includes a planar surface with wall element held against the said one wall member. 

1. Means for mounting a hinge on a container component comprising: a planar mounting member forming an integral part of said container component, and a hinge receiving element having a tongue member spaced laterally from one section thereof and having another section thereof adapted to receive the hinge in direct attachment thereto, said mounting member being cut away to permit slidable insertion of said mounting member into a retained position between the said one section and the said tongue member of said hinge receiving element.
 2. The means as claimed in claim 1 further characterized by the said one section of said hinge receiving element being disposed at an angle relative to the said other section of said hinge receiving element.
 3. The means as claimed in claim 2 wherein said container component includes a planar surface with wall members extending vertically from the edges thereof, and wherein said planar mounting member is suitably dimensioned to be received within the confines of said wall members and against said planar surface.
 4. The means as claimed in claim 3 wherein said planar mounting means is retained against said planar surface by the cooPerative frictional engagement of said wall members with the edges of said planar mounting member.
 5. The means as claimed in claim 2 wherein said planar mounting member is provided with wall members extending vertically from the edges thereof, the wall member adjacent to the cut away portion of said mounting member also being cut away to accommodate slidable insertion of said mounting member between the said one section and the said tongue member of said hinge receiving element.
 6. The means as claimed in claim 5 further characterized by a wrapping material applied to the exterior surfaces of said mounting member, said wall members and said hinge receiving element.
 7. The means as claimed in claim 1 wherein said container component includes a planar surface with wall members extending vertically from the edges thereof, and means for fixing said mounting member in relation to one of said wall members with said hinge receiving element held against the said one wall member. 